This invention is generally directed to a packaging design for cylindrical articles or material wound in rolls on pallets, in particular, a pallet based design incorporating a pallet having a cradle and notches in runners of the pallet for receiving bands for packaging and distributing the cylindrical or rolled articles. The rolls are shipped on pallets and are rollingly oriented so that the roll may be easily rolled on to and off of the pallets, but is held non-destructively and securely in place during shipment of the roll.
In the past, pallets have been used to transport cylindrical articles or rolled materials. Often the articles were transported while lying flat, not rollingly oriented. However, if delicate material such as paper is being transported, shipments of the rolls lying flat on their edges are not appropriate because the edges lying on the pallet can get damaged either through surface contact or merely by virtue of the pressure created by the weight of the roll or any other rolls placed on top of a bottom roll. Likewise, the top edge could be damaged by another roll on top of it or by contact with handling equipment or other pallets during loading, shipping or unloading.
To limit damage to the article being transported, cylindrical articles or material wound in rolls began to be shipped while oriented rollingly. However, it is unacceptable to merely use a flat pallet because, absent any securing means, the cylindrical article placed in a rolling orientation would simply roll off the pallet.
There are other packaging designs which attempt to overcome the problem of flat pallet based designs. Examples of such other designs are embodied in U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,977 to William E. Lambert and U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,721 to William L. Troth et al. However, in such designs, in addition to a pallet and retaining bands or straps, additional components are often used.
For example, wedges or chocks are used to package and distribute paper or other materials wound in rolls and shipped on pallets. Blocks or materials, such as wood, paper or polymer, used as wedges or chocks and placed between the upper support surface of the pallet and the base of the cylindrical article are used to keep the article from rolling during transport. The wedges or chocks may, however, cut into delicate material and cause damage thereto. Further, the wedges or chocks must be secured to the pallet and are often incorporated with pallet pads, which adds to the complexity of such designs. The wedges or chocks and pallet pads also make the pallets more bulky and more difficult to transport for reuse and cause more difficulty when removing the article from the pallet.
In addition, these wedges or chocks protrude above the pallet deck and must be removed prior to unloading the rolls. These extra components (pads and wedges or chocks plus a means for securing the chocks or wedges) are discarded after the rolls of paper or other material wound in rolls have been removed from the pallets, and, thus, create unnecessary waste which must be disposed.
Other designs have attempted to use a cradle to transport material wound in rolls, but like the designs utilizing wedges or chocks, the cradle protrudes above the pallet deck, thus making a more bulky design. Also, in such designs, in order to unload the rolls, the pallet must be equipped with a detachable wall which allows the article to be unloaded. These detachable walls must have some securing and/or hinging mechanism which adds to the complexity of such designs. In addition, such securing or hinging mechanism can also be the source of problems associated with wear and tear.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an improved packaging design which maintains the cylindrical article or the material wound in rolls in a rolling orientation, where the article's cylindrical core is horizontal. More specifically, there is a need to package the rolls with a design comprising as few components as possible, but still securely fastening the roll in a condition for transport and storage, and without damaging the stock prior to use by a consumer.